Page 8 of The Stalking King

He says it with weight behind it. I get the feeling he doesn’t break his word once he gives it.

“Can I trust you?” I ask.

He looks down at me seriously. “More than anyone in your life.”

I’m tempted to laugh it off. It’s so ridiculous. But he just stares with those penetrating gray eyes.

Approaching Joel, I say, “I think you need to tell him what happened.”

Joel winces. “Lia, this isn’t what you think.” He lowers his voice to a hoarse whisper. “Bad people are involved in this. I don’t know why. I don’t know anything. But…”

“You’re right,” I say, glancing at Maksim. He stands at a short distance, watching us with those dark, intense eyes. His body looks tense and ready, as if he might erupt at any moment. “But he’s going to keep you safe.”

“How do you know that?”

“He gave me his word.”

Joel narrows his eyes. “And you trust him?”

God help me. I sigh.

“Yes, I do.”

Joel swallows. “Okay, I’ll talk. But only because you vouched for him.”

When Joel walks toward Maksim, I instantly feel as if I’ve made a mistake. There’s no reason for me to trust Maksim beyond a feeling. Beyond an emotion that has no place. Beyond a promise that hits me deeper than anything any other man has ever said.

Joel and Maksim exchange a few words, then Maksim turns and walks away. I feel stung when he doesn’t say goodbye to me. It’s ridiculous.

“He said he’s coming by at the end of my shift,” Joel says, swallowing and twisting his wedding ring around his finger.

CHAPTER 4

MAKSIM

Nikolai leans against the wall of my office, arms folded. My younger brother is like the leaner version of me. He’s got Bratva tattoos on his hands and over his neck. His hair is dark, with only a few touches of silver coming in. His eyes are the same blue-gray as mine.

“You didn’t need to twist the blade to make him sing?” he says.

I shake my head. “He believed me when I told him we were going to keep him and his family safe.”

Nikolai nods. “Good, our word means something.”

I make a hmm noise as though I agree, but I don’t tell him the truth. He agreed to speak to us because Lia vouched for me. My brother doesn’t know about my hungry secret, the hours spent watching Lia on the security footage, the break she gives me from this life.

Nikolai’s phone goes off. His face twists anxiously. Which is odd. He’s normally like stone. You’ve got to be, in this life.

“Everything okay?”

“Women troubles,” he grunts, then puts his phone away. “So, what’s the damage? That phone can’t give him everything.”

“But it’s a risk to our empire. You know that.”

“Half a key doesn’t open a lock,” he says. “Unless we messed up. Left info on the phone by mistake. Or there’s some metadata they can use to gain access to other parts of the business.”

“Exactly,” I reply. “That’s my fear.”

Nikolai smiles, cocky. “Careful, you don’t want people to know you experience fear. It’d be bad for business if this wretched city learned Maksim Volkov was human after all.”